


Invulnerable

by Stratagem



Series: Among the Gifted [3]
Category: The Gifted - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Gen, The Mutant Underground, Thunderblink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-12
Updated: 2017-10-12
Packaged: 2019-01-16 15:06:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12345078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stratagem/pseuds/Stratagem
Summary: John Proudstar is indestructible, but he’s not invulnerable.





	Invulnerable

**Author's Note:**

> Clarice and John are going to be the new OTP. Thunderblink lives! Also, I headcanon that there are a few orphan mutant kids at the underground headquarters in Atlanta...

John is indestructible, but he’s not invulnerable.

Clarice doesn’t think he notices, but she’s watching him when one of the Underground kids comes running into the infirmary, her knee all skinned up and tears streaming down her face. The kid can’t be more than five, but she’s like Blink, a mutant who can’t blend in, not with her violet skin, striped pink hair, and blue cat’s eyes. Massive butterfly wings flutter against her back as she dashes right up to John, colliding with his legs.

“I’m bleedin’,” she says with a little Southern accent, sticking her leg out like John can’t tell on his own which knee she tore up. Clarice can see her trying to suck in the tears and steady her wobbling lower lip. “I need a bandaid, can I have one?”

John picks her up, careful of the wings, and sets her down on a table. “What happened, Riley?”

“Me and Ty were playing down…inside…and I fell.”

“Mhmm.” Something that’s a mix between disapproval and amusement crosses John’s face. “Your pants legs are wet, and you smell like the creek. Are you sure you were inside?”

“Maybe not.” The kid, Riley, winces when John dabs a wet cloth against her leg.

“You know you’re not supposed to play down at the water unless someone’s with you,” he says, firm but gentle. Clarice has noticed he does that sometimes, the gentle but firm thing. She sort of likes it.

“We can’t play in the clubhouse cause it got portalized,” she says, and suddenly she sneaks a look over at Clarice. Before they make eye contact, Clarice closes her eyes, feigning sleep.

“You’re not mad at her, right?” John’s voice asks, “You know she didn’t mean to.”

“Nah,” Riley says, “I know. I do stuff on accident too.”

“And on purpose.”

A giggle splits the air, and Clarice squints one eye open to see John tickle the kid again. She resists the urge to smile because man, he’s not nearly as intimating as he seems at first.

He holds up two band-aids. “Important question. Pokémon or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?”

“Where’s the Hello Kitty ones?”

“You used them up last week.”

“Oh…Pokémon!”

John sticks a couple band-aids on the scraped knee and then raises an eyebrow at Riley. “Stay away from the creek, got it? I’ll take you and Ty down there tomorrow if you behave.”

The kid grins. “Okay!”

John sets her back on the ground and ruffles her hair before giving her a little push toward the door.

Yeah, see, John’s practically indestructible but he’s not invulnerable. His weakness is the people he loves and how much he does actually care about them. His vulnerabilities are ones that Clarice can hardly understand, she’s been on her own so long. She doesn’t have people. Not people like that, not anymore.

She feels eyes on her, and she knows who is looking at her even before she turns toward him. He smirks and nods to her before heading out, following Riley.

She doesn’t want that vulnerability. She’s fine the way she is.

It’s better to be invulnerable than indestructible.


End file.
